Told the work stopped for weather, they found others still potting plants
Two migrant nursery workers were told the weather ended their casual jobs, but Authority member Antoinette Baker found otherwise on 3 July 2026.
The two nursery assistants, both in New Zealand on working holiday visas, took casual roles potting plants for Queenstown Nursery Limited in early 2025. There was no written employment agreement. The terms sat in a run of emails from the company's sole director, who set the pay at $26.50 an hour and estimated three to four weeks of work.
The dispute turned on what "casual" meant. The director argued the pair were offered work day to day, with no obligation to keep giving them shifts. The workers pointed to an email sent on 6 April 2025, in which the director confirmed there would be work Monday to Wednesday for at least the next three weeks. On that basis, they said, they had turned down other opportunities.
On 15 April the director emailed to say the work was over, citing falling temperatures. The pair were told the company would no longer need them because "the temperature is starting to drop off." The workers said others on the site kept working after that date, and they later produced photographs of cars at the site and a colleague's payslip to support the claim.
Baker did not accept the day to day characterisation. She found the 6 April email committed the company to at least three more weeks, taking the work through to 23 April. The reason given at the...
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